Chapter 68: My Sasuke?
Renji: "..."
Why did he always get so explosively agitated the moment Sasuke's name was even whispered in conversation?
Was this the kind of deep, unbreakable 'bond' that Naruto kept going on about, the one that tied people together through thick and thin?
Renji still couldn't wrap his head around it at all—it remained a complete mystery to him, no matter how he tried to puzzle it out.
Naruto looked exactly like an enraged husband whose beloved wife had been cruelly abducted right out from under him, fury blazing in every fiber of his being.
"Naruto," Renji called out loudly to Naruto from across the distance, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Naruto, you need to calm down right now—get a grip!"
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +1000!]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +1000!]
[Chakra (72,465,501 / 100,000,000)]
At some unnoticed point, Sai had slipped away from Naruto's side without a word.
Completely disregarding his assigned teammate in the heat of the moment, he made his way over to Renji's position instead, positioning himself close by.
Upon hearing Renji's urgent words aimed at Naruto, a fleeting glint of cold disdain flashed through Sai's eyes, sharp and unyielding.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Naruto felt himself being swallowed whole by an endless, malevolent black sea of pure malice, dragging him down into its abyssal depths without mercy.
Just before he fully sank into the void, he caught a glimpse of the Nine-Tails' gleaming eyes from the distant shore, radiating nothing but ill intent and predatory glee.
"Naruto..."
A voice was calling out to him, faint but insistent.
It echoed as if originating from some incredibly distant place, muffled by layers of darkness.
The sound came through blurry and distorted, like whispers through thick fog.
Who could it be?
Naruto wondered hazily, his thoughts swirling in confusion.
"Naruto..."
This time, the voice boomed like a thunderclap, shattering the oppressive black sea that engulfed him and splitting it wide open.
Naruto's eyes snapped wide in sudden clarity.
It's Renji!
It's Renji who's calling out to me, pulling me back!
Naruto abruptly jolted awake, his eyes flying open as the ominous black-red Tailed Beast cloak rapidly began to recede from his body, fading away like mist under the sun.
Three swaying tails lingered behind him, a remnant of the power he'd unleashed.
He had reclaimed his sanity, pulling himself back from the brink.
In that critical moment when Orochimaru's taunting words hit him, it felt like he'd been drowning in an overwhelming flood of the Nine-Tails' raw malice, suffocating under its weight.
To Naruto, it seemed like he'd struggled against it for an eternity, battling in the depths of his mind, but in the real world outside, it had all transpired in a mere instant, a blink of an eye.
"Don't say 'hand over Sasuke' like that!" Kabuto Yakushi interjected, pushing up the glasses perched on his nose with a deliberate motion, his lips curling into a smug sneer as he corrected Naruto's phrasing. "That's not accurate in the slightest—get your facts straight!"
"Sasuke came over to our side completely of his own free will, without any coercion."
Kabuto Yakushi shrugged nonchalantly and spread his palms out in a gesture of mock innocence, emphasizing his point.
"You're really being unreasonable here, throwing a tantrum like this!"
"What right do you even have to stand there shouting demands when you clearly lack the strength to actually bring Sasuke back yourself?" Kabuto Yakushi stared directly at Naruto, his voice dripping with condescension. "Acting so unshinobi and pathetic—it's really unlike what a real shinobi should be."
Kabuto Yakushi's cutting words reverberated in Naruto's ears like echoing taunts, stabbing deep.
Yes, it was all because of his own lack of power and strength!
It was precisely because he was too weak that Renji had ended up severely injured in the past!
That Renji had nearly died during that fateful mission to retrieve Sasuke from the brink!
Every single bit of this tragedy stemmed from his own inadequacy and weakness—he was the root cause!
Sai found himself strongly agreeing with Kabuto Yakushi's harsh assessment that Naruto wasn't acting like a shinobi at all.
Deep down, he felt exactly the same way about it, sharing that sentiment without reservation.
"Shut your mouth, you four-eyed freak—you don't understand a damn thing about Naruto's true feelings! Stop spouting your nonsense right here and now!" Sakura yelled furiously at Kabuto Yakushi, her voice laced with protective anger.
She was a core member of Team 7, through and through.
She knew better than anyone else the immense efforts and sacrifices that Renji and Naruto had poured into their bonds and missions.
No one—not a single soul—had the right to belittle or diminish what Renji and Naruto had achieved!
Sakura's verbal offensive prowess was something even Renji had to acknowledge as top-tier, sharp and unrelenting.
What the hell was going on here?
After three long years apart, why did it feel like everyone's ability to launch cutting verbal attacks had leveled up continuously, getting sharper and more vicious?
"If you really want to know the details about Sasuke, then prove it with your own strength—come and pry it out of me if you can!" Orochimaru declared, clearly doubting they possessed such capability in the first place.
As for Renji... well, he wasn't exactly in Orochimaru's category of enemies to crush.
After all, they were supposed to be partners in this twisted game, weren't they?
Orochimaru flashed a sinister smile, his eyes gleaming with dark amusement.
Almost immediately after Orochimaru's provocative words dropped, hanging in the air like a challenge.
A blinding, fierce red light erupted right before his eyes, intense and overwhelming.
Uzumaki Naruto materialized in front of him in a blur, his beast-like claws slashing down viciously toward Orochimaru with feral intent.
So incredibly fast!
Was this the raw, untamed power of a Tailed Beast manifesting at its peak?
Naruto, fully shrouded in his ominous Tailed Beast cloak, drew in a deep breath and unleashed a ferocious claw swipe, aiming straight for Orochimaru's shoulder blade with crushing force.
The whistling wind howled as it surged forth instantly, whipping through the air like a storm.
However, just as Naruto committed to the swing, Orochimaru abruptly shifted into motion, evading with serpentine grace.
Renji could clearly spot the cold, calculating glint flashing in Orochimaru's eyes, reminiscent of a venomous snake poised to strike.
In a split second, Orochimaru's body morphed into a sleek white snake form and vanished from the spot in a rapid slither.
Naruto's attack connected with nothing but empty air, his razor-sharp claws slamming into the ground with tremendous impact.
The entire Tenchi Bridge cracked open under the force, a jagged fissure tearing through its structure.
Wood chips and rubble exploded into the air, scattering like shrapnel.
The Tenchi Bridge trembled and swayed precariously in the whipping wind, groaning under the strain.
It teetered on the very edge of total collapse, ready to give way at any moment.
"Naruto, you've grown quite a bit as a Jinchuriki—impressive development!" Kabuto Yakushi remarked, eyeing the swaying red tails behind Naruto and the devastation unfolding before him, a mocking smile twisting his features.
Once again overwhelmed and controlled by the surging malice from the Nine-Tails, the now-irrational Naruto obliterated a massive hundred-meter-wide pit in the dense forest ahead of him with raw power.
Naruto stood at the epicenter of the crater, his entire form nearly consumed by the malicious, evil-infused Chakra that pulsed around him like a dark aura.
Naruto no longer resembled a human being at all—more like a monstrous entity born of rage.
"You're looking more and more like a true Jinchuriki every second!" Kabuto taunted.
"Naruto!" Orochimaru positioned himself opposite Naruto, scrutinizing his transformed appearance with keen interest. "I really want to test my skills against you right now and gauge just how much my Sasuke has truly grown in comparison."
My Sasuke?
Renji: "..."
Those words carried a bit of an ambiguous undertone, loaded with implications.
Without him even realizing it, four tails had already manifested behind Naruto, swirling with increasing intensity.
Three tails marked Naruto's absolute limit for retaining his sanity; pushing beyond that threshold meant losing all reason and control.
Orochimaru's inflammatory words had completely shattered Naruto's fragile grip on his mind.
Crimson Chakra exploded outward like a volcanic eruption in full fury, unstoppable and destructive.
The surrounding trees were uprooted violently, torn from the earth by the shockwave.
Powerful gales howled in with ferocious force, battering everything in their path.
The wind grew so intense that it became nearly impossible to keep one's eyes open against the assault.
With a deafening crash that echoed through the valley.
The Tenchi Bridge finally succumbed to the overwhelming strain, unable to hold together any longer.
It shattered completely into countless jagged fragments, crumbling away into the below.
----
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